Who

You must be 15 years or older to attend a lifeguard screening at one of our two indoor training facilities. However, you must be 16 years or older to work as a lifeguard for the City of Philadelphia.

Requirements

To be considered for a position, you must pass a lifeguard screening given by a water safety instructor. For the screening, wear a bathing suit and bring a towel. You may wear swim goggles.

You must be able to complete the following skills to pass the screening:

Swim 12 lengths of the pool using both freestyle and breaststroke without stopping. This is not a timed swim, but you must continuously swim the 12 lengths and not stop or you will need to start over.

Tread water for two minutes using only your legs with your hands under your armpits.

Retrieve a 10-pound brick from a deep well (12 feet). Return to the surface and swim 20 yards back to the starting point with the brick, using only your legs. The brick must be held out of the water with both hands. You must complete this task within one minute and 40 seconds.

Where and when

See screening and lifeguard certification course times below.

Cost

Screening is free of charge and no appointment is necessary. The lifeguard training course fee is $110 if you commit to working for Parks & Rec or $175 if you decide to work somewhere else.

How

Lifeguard screening

1

Take the screening test

You must be able to complete the lifeguard screening outlined in Requirements above.

If you pass the screening, the water safety instructor will enroll you in the next lifeguard training course at that specific training facility. The course date depends on the number of candidates who have passed the screening.

If you fail the screening, you can try again until you pass. The instructor will give you tips on what you can do to improve.